


I Want To Go Home

by WritLarge



Series: JackRabbit Easter 2015 [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Roland is a believer, Roland wants to go home, because Robin needs to get back to Storybrooke somehow, mostly Roland, short burst of JackRabbit, spoilers for OuaT until after the Frozen arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 10:43:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3689256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritLarge/pseuds/WritLarge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roland Hood misses Storybrooke and wants to go home. Fortunately, the kids on the outside have been telling him all about Santa, the Tooth Fairy and more. Since Christmas has already gone by and he hasn't got any loose teeth, Roland puts all his hopes into getting help from the Easter Bunny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Want To Go Home

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a JackRabbit prompt. Roland Hood is the main OuaT character here, with the others listed only showing up briefly.

“Please Easter Bunny! I want to go home. Please help me with your magic,” he said again. Roland had escaped his parents and camped out in the park, waiting for the Easter Bunny. He wasn’t afraid of being outside alone. He’d lived in the forest for as long as he could remember. It was the bed and walls and lights that hummed all the time that unsettled him.

It had been a long time since they had left Storybrooke. His family had moved a few times, trying to find the right place to settle in this strange new world. Roland knew that his parents were unhappy. He was unhappy too. He missed Little John and Friar Tuck. He missed Regina and Henry too, but he’d learned not to talk about them. 

Lots of people had been nice to him since they’d started moving. He learned a lot about how different everything was. He really liked television. Henry had showed him some at his house, but out here, every house had one and all the kids knew the shows. Roland’s favourite so far was Sesame Street, because it explained everything. Though Super Why! was also really good.

He had been told a bit about Christmas and Santa Claus, but never really celebrated it. Christmas had had happened right after they’d left home. His parents seemed a bit confused by the green and red colours covering all the places they travelled and everyone wished them a Merry Christmas. His father sort of knew what it was and he’d tried to describe it, but it had been different in Storybrooke. Here it was like the holiday had exploded all over everything.

Roland had started watching and asking more questions after that, not of his father or mother, but of the other kids he met. They knew a lot more about Santa Claus and other things now. He was sad that he hadn’t lost any teeth for the Tooth Fairy yet, but then he’d discovered Easter. Roland was sure the Easter Bunny could help him. Both he and Santa must be wizards if they could travel the whole world in a day, but the best part was that the Easter Bunny didn’t come down chimneys. He hid eggs everywhere, even the parks, which were the closest thing to the forest that Roland had now. There was an Easter Egg hunt here tomorrow.

And that was why Roland camped out in the trees away from the playground, wishing and waiting to meet the Easter Bunny.

*****

The child’s hope was like a beacon and it was shining out from the depths of the park far too early for any ankle biter to be rightfully awake, let alone outside. Bunny would have worried that the child was lost, but the feeling coming from him was so hopeful and bright.

“Easter Bunny!” The boy cried. Definitely a believer then, Aster thought. He smiled and crouched down.

“Ya shouldn’t be out here by yourself. Where’s your parents?” He asked gently.

“It’s okay,” the boy reassured him, practically vibrating in place. “I know lots about the woods. I’m Roland. Will you help me? I want to go home.” 

“I can get ya to your house-“ Bunny began, but Roland cut him off.

“No! Not there. Home. In Storybrooke,” the boy said, stressing the name of the place as he looked up, earnest and hopeful belief in those big brown eyes.

Storybrooke. Aster had heard rumblings about the place and the erratic magic that surrounded it. Story-brooke indeed. Didn’t seem like a good place for a little kid.

“We used to live there,” Roland said. That surprised him. They’d lived in the place? He’d best find out more then, as they likely weren’t normal folk. “Please?”

“I can’t stop for long now,” Bunny apologized and held up his basket. “How’s about I come back later and we’ll chat.”

“Yes! Yes, please.” The boy bounced happily.

“But,” he stated firmly, “only if we get ya home so your parents won’t go out of their minds when they find ya missing.”

Roland readily agreed and Bunny swung him up onto his back, giggles filling the quiet morning. The kid’s house was on the other side of town and a tunnel would be fastest. Aster was already behind schedule. When he thumped to open a portal, Roland cheered. Yeah, this kid was no stranger to magic.

Moments later he’d left the boy on the doorstep of a townhouse and was watching him go inside when it occurred to him to ask why.

“Roland,” the boy turned to look back at him from the doorway. “Why’d ya leave in the first place?”

“My mother was cursed. She was frozen.” Frozen? Bunny frowned. 

Roland bit his lip worriedly, “You’ll come back won’t you? To help?”

“I promise,” Aster nodded, knowing he wouldn’t be returning alone.

*****

Roland waited patiently. The Easter Bunny had said he would come back and Roland believed him. He told the other kids that he had seen the Easter Bunny, but not all of them believed him. The ones who did, they said he was so lucky and they were really amazed when he told them how big the rabbit had been. 

It was twelve days before he came back. Roland counted. 

“Hey there, boyo,” the Easter Bunny ruffled his hair. He’d found him in the park again. His father was on the other side of the green and never minded Roland roaming. 

“Easter Bunny!” Roland could see him much better in the sunlight. His fur was grey and soft looking, and he had black marks like the tattoos some of the Merry Men had on their skin. Roland wanted one too, but his father had told him he had to be older before he could choose what he wanted.

“Just Bunny is fine. I’ve brought a friend with me,” he said. A breeze blew between them, making Roland shiver.

“Who?” he asked. Roland looked around, but no one was there.

“Ya can’t see him unless ya believe in him, just the way those adults over there can’t see me.” He was right, Roland realized. The people who ran past didn’t even glance at the giant rabbit man. “His name is Jack Frost.”

“What is he like?” Bunny smiled and glanced towards the spot next to him. 

“He’s the Guardian of Fun. Likes ta have snow ball fights and frost windows in his spare time, when he isn’t helping protect little ankle biters like yourself,” Bunny patted him gently on the shoulder. “You’ll like him.”

It never occurred to Roland to doubt the word of the Easter Bunny and between eye blinks a man suddenly appeared. He was smaller than Bunny but almost too thin and pale to be a normal person. He had a huge grin on his face.

“Hey kid,” Jack greeted him and twirled his stick around. Bunny was right. Jack looked like fun and Roland liked him right away.

“Hi,” he answered. “I’m Roland.”

“So I hear. Bunny said your mom was cursed to be frozen?” Roland nodded. “Well I’m pretty good with that sort of thing myself and Bunny is even better at warming things up, so why don’t you tell us all about it?”

Roland did his best to explain. Everything he knew about what had happened came from his father and listening to Little John talk about things he wasn’t supposed to hear. He knew the Snow Queen had cursed his mother, and that Regina and his father had tried and tried to fix her. Nothing had worked. Eventually, they had left the town because the magic of the curse couldn’t work outside of Storybrooke. Once they had crossed the town line his mother had gotten better right away. But if you left, you couldn’t get back, because of the magic. His father had explained that to him too, many times, until he’d told Roland harshly not to ask him about it anymore. Once Roland had thought that Regina was going to be his mother, but then his first mother had come back, and now everyone was sad when they should be happy.

Bunny and Jack listened to him patiently and asked a few questions. They didn’t get upset or look at him like he was making things up like the teacher had done at his new school. 

“Huh. Is this Snow Queen still around?” Jack asked and Roland could tell he was worried.

“She’d dead. I heard Little John tell Friar Tuck.”

“Friar-?” Jack’s eyes went really big and Bunny clamped a hand over his mouth.

“And the spell came back after she died?” Bunny wanted to know.

“Yes.”

“We’re going ta need ta meet your mother, Roland.”

***** 

When Roland had mentioned Little John and Friar Tuck, Aster had been amused, mostly by Jack’s reaction. Bunny had confirmed Roland’s parent’s names with him too but hadn’t let Jack talk about it until Roland had run off back to his dad.

“Seriously? No way!” He exclaimed, watching the man whose hand Roland took. “That’s Robin Hood?”

“Told ya the place was different. One big magic mess, usually best left alone, but in this case-“

“Yeah, we have to help him.” Jack smiled sadly, threading his fingers through Aster’s. Being separated from the people you love was one of the worst kinds of pain. “Poor kid. Sounds like his dad and mom are on the outs too. How is Maid Marian still cursed anyway?”

“It’s probably just a remnant that they weren’t able to remove.” Aster leaned against Jack. “If it’s winter magic, between the two of us, we can probably manage it.”

“Because we’re awesome, right?” but Bunny had no time to respond because Jack surged up and kissed him soundly. “So how long are we giving the kid to convince them before we show up?”

“Couple hours. They’re well experienced with magic and enchantment. May not be much of a stretch for them.”

“And how are you planning to pass the time until then, in this big empty bit of woodland?” Jack leered.

“I’m open to ideas,” Aster grinned and Jack pounced.

***** 

It took them a while to get back to Roland’s house, mostly on account of getting the leaves out of Bunny’s fur, but by the time they did both Robin and Marian saw them immediately. 

“Can you really help?” Robin’s question was tinged with shades of both hope and despair.

“We’ll do our best, mate.”

***** 

“You’re joking, right?” Henry asked him when he explained how his mother had been cured. It had taken them a while to figure out how to get back to Storybrooke. Jack had been the one to suggest using the internet, whatever that was, and Roland had passed the idea to his father. It had worked. 

“Okay, I don’t know why this is so surprising. I mean, everything else is real, why not the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost, right?” Henry gave him another little hug with the arm he had around Roland’s shoulders. 

“And Santa and the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy too! I hope she can come when I lose my first tooth.” He was so happy to be home.

“And the Easter Bunny is really that big?”

“Yes. He gave me a ride on his back through his tunnels. It was wonderful!”

“Kid, stop encouraging him,” Emma called over. Blue was next to her, standing by his mother discussing the curse and her recovery. They’d wanted to be sure the magic was gone.

“Did you say he looked like a giant rabbit, Roland?” He nodded at the fairy woman. “Hmm, you know, there are stories…”

“No way,” Emma looked at Roland, who smiled back. “Now I’m going to be paranoid about ground hogs and leprechauns too.”

Both he and Henry laughed. Roland liked being here, back in Regina’s house, but he was eager to get back to the woods too. And not just to see the Merry Men. He hadn’t told anyone about what the Easter Bunny had given him, the little egg-shaped stone painted with pretty colours. Roland was going to bury it in the woods inside the Storybrooke town line as soon as he got the chance.

Bunny and Jack had promised to visit.


End file.
